Battle of Shiloh - Shiloh, Tennessee

In April of 1862, Confederate and Union forces mauled each other for two days around a small log church that gave the battle its name - Shiloh.

The Battle of Shiloh was so violent and deadly that it send shock waves across both North and South. The massive battle in the woods of Tennessee left more than 23,000 men and boys dead, wounded or missing. It forever changed the face of war and began to make clear the horrendous cost in blood that the nation would pay before the conflict was decided.

Shiloh today is one of the most pristine Civil War battlefields in the nation. Preserved as Shiloh National Military Park, the battlefield is still in fields and woods just as it was in 1862. Cannon and monuments dot the landscape and visitors can see such places as the Hornet's Nest, where more than 60 Confederate cannon destroyed a Union force of 6,000 men; Bloody Pond, where soldiers of both sides bathed their wounds and turned the water red with blood, and Pittsburg Landing, the objective point of the Confederate army.

To learn more, please visit our new series of pages on the Battle of Shiloh by clicking www.exploresouthernhistory.com/shiloh1. Be sure to check out the additional links at the bottom of the page.